Insulated car wall



May 17, 1938. c. D. BoNsALL INSULATED CAR WALL Filed June 12, 1937Patented May 17, 193s UNITED STATES INSULATED CAR WALL Charles D.Bonsall, Pittsburgh, Pa., assigner, by

mesne assignments,

PATENT OFFICE to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, acorporation of Delaware Application June 12, 1937, Serial No. 141,969

8 Claims.

l door for a railway refrigerator car which is used to transportperishable commodities.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a wall of spaced apartmetallic sheets with stiffeners connecting such sheets so that thesheets will cooperate to form a very strong structure to resist stressesagainst either side of the wall and to provide an insulating wall byputting insulating material between the sheets, and as the insulatingmaterials now in general use are combustible, another object of theinvention is to provide stifeners of such construction that the sheetsmay be welded to them without igniting the insulating material.

A still further object is to provide means to insulate the stiffeners sothat heat will not be conducted by them through the wall.

Another object is to associate and arrange such insulating means so thatit cooperates with the elements forming the stifieners to provide hollowspaces to prevent the heat of welding from igniting the insulatingmaterial between the metallic sheets, and a further object is toinsulate that portion of the wall occupied by the hollow spaces byfilling such spaces with non-combustible insulating material.

Another object is to provide a waterproof structure by connecting theassociated parts of the wall together so as to prevent moisture fromcontacting the insulating material and reducing its insulatingefficiency.

Another object is to provide a metallic sheet Wall having a smoothinterior or exterior surface (or both if desired) made out of fiatmetallic sheets.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows a typical application of my improved wall used as the floorof a railway refrigerator car.

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged cross section of the metallic sheets andstiifener shown in Fig. 1.

Figs. 3-8 inclusive show modified forms of stiffeners which may be usedbetween the metallic sheet to accomplish the objects of the invention.

The drawing shows the usual parts of the car, such as side sill I; sidewall sheathing 2; side wall lining 3; side wall insulation 4 and sidewall framing 5.

'I'he form of my wall or door shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises an uppermetallic sheet 1 and lower metallic sheets 8 spaced therefrom andsubstantially parallel thereto, insulating material 9 between saidsheets and an insulated stiffener I connecting the sheets. The stiifenercomprises two metallic members, each of said members comprising an outerflange I3, an inner flange I4 and a web I5 connecting the flanges. Theinsulating fabric or other insulating material I6 is positioned betweenthe inner flanges I4 of the two members and is preferably securedthereto by the rivet I1. The insulating fabric is bent to form flanges20 and 2|, which flanges cooperate with the webs I5 of the members toprovide hollow spaces 22 -and,23. The metallic sheets 1 and 8 are welded(24) to the outer flanges I3-I3 and the spaces 23-23 prevent the heat ofthe welding from igniting the insulating material. When two upper sheets1--1 (or two lower sheets 8--8) are used they may be joined by thewelding material 24 which secures both of said sheets to the outerflange I3 of the member.

The insulating fabric IG is made of some porous material which may bemoulded in any desired shape, usually when wet, but which has sufficientstiffness, when dry, to maintain its form.

If desired` the spaces 22 and 23 may be filled with some non-combustiblematerial, such as asbestos.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3 a fabric 30 is made of one flatpiece of material extending between the upper 1 and lower 8 metallicsheets and the members 3I-32 are secured on opposite sides of the fabricby the rivet 33. Each member is provided with an inner flange 34, anouter flange 35 and a web 36 to form the space 31. The metallic sheets1-8 are welded (31) to the outer flange 35.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4 the fabric 4|) is one flat piece ofmaterial extending diagonally between the upper 1 and lower 8 metallicsheets. The metallic members are positioned on opposite sides of thefabric and secured thereto and to each other by the rivet 4I and eachmember is provided with a web 42 and flange 43 to cooperate with thefabric to form the spaces 44 and 45. The upper and lower sheets arewelded (41) to the flanges 43.

Fig. 4 is an improvement over Fig. 3 because the welds are in line witheach other.

Fig. 5 is a modification of the construction shown in Fig. 4 wherein themembers are provided with lips 50 which overlap the fabric to hold it inplace.

Fig. 6 shows a modification wherein a short piece of fabric 60 ispositioned between the two metallic members lil- 62 to provide aninsulasussurri tion therebetween and other pieces of fabric I3 arepositioned on opposite sides of the stiffener which extend between andpreferably, contact both the upper 1 and lower 8 metallic sheets.

'I'he metallic members are formed so as to cooperate with one of thepieces of fabric to form the spaces 64 and 65.

Fig. 7 shows a modification wherein .two channel shape pieces 10 offabric are positioned between the upper 'il and lower 12 metallicmembers and preferably secured thereto by the rivet 13. These U-shapepieces of fabric 10 form a space 14 on each side of each member.

Fig. 8 shows a modification wherein a stiil'ener is used in a wallwherein the metallic sheets 1-l are spaced relatively far apart, inwhich case it may not be necessary for the fabric 'il to extend all theway between the two metallic sheets, so I provide an intermediatemetallic member 12 between the upper 13 and lower 14 metallic membersand the fabric 1i is formed so that it cooperates with a part of themetallic member to provide the space 15.

In all of the above described structures each of the metallic members isprovided with a flat part to which the adjacent metallic sheet is weldedand fabric is positioned between the two (or more) metallic members sothat there is no direct conduit for heat from one side of the wall tothe other; furthermore, each structure shows the fabric formed .tocooperate with a part of one of the metallic members to provide a spaceso that the heat of welding will not ignite the combustible insulationbetween the metallic sheets. In some of Athe above describedconstructions the metallic members and the fabric are associated so thatthey will transmit a direct load from one metallic sheet to the othereither in tension or compression, therefore, the stifleners cause themetallic sheets to become compression and tension members of a beam toresist stresses imposed on the wall from one side or the other thereof.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as itis obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of theclaims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

l'. claim: 1. An insulating wall comprising spaced apart metallicsheets, combustible insulating material between said sheets and aninsulated stiifener connecting said sheets, said stiilener comprising ametallic member welded to each sheet and an insulating fabric betweensaid members, said fabric and said members being associated and arrangedto provide hollow channels to prevent the heat of welding from ignitingsaid combustible insulation.

2. An insulating wall comprising spaced apart metallic sheets,combustible insulating material between said sheets and an insulatedstiener connecting said sheets, said stiffener comprising a metallicmember welded to each sheet and an insulating fabric between saidmembers and secured thereto, said fabric and said members beingassociated and arranged to provide hollow channels to prevent the heatof welding from lgnitingv said combustible insulation.

3. An insulating wall comprising spaced apart metallic sheets,combustible insulating material 4 a metallic member welded to fromigniting said between said sheets and aninsulated stiil'ener connectingsaid sheets, said stiffener comprising two channel shaped metallicmembers each having one flange thereof welded to one of said sheets, andan insulating fabric between the other flanges of said members, saidinsulating fabric having portions which' cooperate with the webs of saidmembers to provide hollow spaces to prevent the heat of welding fromigniting the combustible insulation.

4. An insulating wall comprising spaced apart metallic sheets,combustible insulating material between said sheets and an insulatedstiffener connecting said sheets, said stinener comprising two channelshaped metallic members each having one flange thereof welded to one ofsaid sheets, and an insulating fabric between the other flanges cf saidmembers, said insulating fabric having portions which cooperate with thewebs of said members to provide hollow spaces to prevent the heat ofwelding from igniting the combustible insulation, and means to securethe last mentioned flanges and the fabric together.

5. An insulating wall comprising spaced apart metallic sheets,combustible insulating material between said sheets and an insulatedstiii'ener connecting said sheets, said stiilener comprising insulatingfabric between said members, said fabric and said members beingassociated and arranged to provide hollow channels to prevent the heatof welding from insulation and non-combustible insulation in said hollowchannels.

6. An insulating wall comprising spaced apart metallic sheets,combustible insulating material between said sheets and an insulatedstifi'ener connecting said sheets, saidstiifener comprising' a metallicmember welded to each sheet, and an insulating fabric between saidmembers, said fab-q ric and said members being associated and arrangedto provide a hollow space on each side of said members .to prevent theheat of welding combustible insulation.

7. An insulating wall comprising spaced apart metallic sheets,combustible insulating material between said sheets, and an insulatedstiifener connecting said sheets, said stiifener comprising a piece ofstiff insulating fabric extending between said slreets, a metallicmember on each sidev of said fabric, and means to secure both of saidmembers to said fabric, each of said members having a fiat part to whichthe adjacent metallic sheet is welded and a portion which cooperateswith the fabric .to provide hollow spaces to prevent the heat of weldingfrom igniting the insulation.

8. An insulating wall comprising spaced apart metallic sheets,combustible insulating material between said sheets, and an insulatedstiffener connecting said sheets, said stiifener comprising a piece ofsti insulating fabric extending between said sheets, a metallic memberon each side of said fabric, and means to secure both of said members tosaid fabric, each of said members having a fiat part to which theadjacent metallic sheet is welded and a portion which cooperates withthe fabric to provide hollow spaces to prevent the heat of welding fromigniting the insulation, each of said members provided with a lip tohold the fabric in piace.

CHARLES D. BONBALL.

each sheet and an' igniting said combustible

